A TOP FLIGHT TOY COMPANY
CELEBRATES TEN YEARS OF BUSINESS AND BEGINS A
NEW CHAPTER

By Rudy Panucci for Mastercollector.com

Over the last decade, Johnny
Lightning was the complete package in
collectible Die Cast. First, it was a great nostalgia reproduction.
Then it became a flagship premium die-cast company with new toolings
that
raised the bar for 1:64 scale cars. Today, after ten years of bringing
joy to collectors, Playing Mantis, Johnny Lightning's parent company,
is
looking at a new challenge as they join the RC2 family of companies,
leaving behind their independent status, but pledging to maintain their
high standards as a toy company.

As this article was being
prepared, there were rumblings about Playing
Mantis being acquired by another company. Along with much anxiety about
what this might mean for quality and diversity, and if the new owners
would have the level of dedication that Playing Mantis' founder Thomas
Lowe had, an official announcement was finally made that RC2, the company
that owns Racing Champion, Ertl, and AMT Models had purchased Playing
Mantis, but that Thomas Lowe would be taking a seat on the board and
would still be involved in the overseeing Playing Mantis.

This came as a relief to
many toy collectors, who had feared that a new
owner might just dismantle Playing Mantis, or discard their non-die
cast
divisions that produce action figures and model kits. Now that we know
that the company will remain intact for some time, we can cover the
real
point of this article. The revived Johnny Lightning line is TEN YEARS
OLD! Playing Mantis has some terrific celebrations planned.

Playing Mantis is a leader
in the creation and manufacturing of nostalgic
toys, as well as forefront in creating new, modern collectibles. Like
many great companies, Playing Mantis came from a love of two things
-
die-cast cars and childhood dreams. The name "Playing Mantis"
embodies
the playful spirit of youth, as well as a catchy name for a toy company.
As a boy, Tom Lowe, founder of Playing Mantis, loved to catch and play
with praying mantises. Liking the way the words sounded, and creating
a
whimsical mascot to embody the feel of the company, Playing Mantis was
born.

In 1993, Tom was searching
for new ventures for Playing Mantis. One
afternoon while at a friend's house, Tom was thumbing through Toy Shop
(a
collector's magazine) and was surprised by the price collectors were
offering for 1960s and early '70s die-cast cars that Tom used to race
and
collect. At that point, Tom decided to start collecting a variety of
die-cast cars, many of which he remembered from his childhood. In one
transaction, Tom acquired a variety of cars from a dealer on the East
coast. Within the lot were 20 Johnny Lightning cars. Once he had those
in hand, he knew that it was time to revive Johnny Lightning, and toy
history was made.

The Johnny Lightning line
of die cast cars was originally made by Topper
Toys in the late 1960s. They were an early competitor to Mattel's Hot
Wheels, and if not for Topper Toy's untimely bankruptcy, they may have
challenged Hot Wheels at retail for decades. They matched Hot Wheels
in
terms of wild designs and colors and in consumer testing, they were
even
faster.

Sadly, Topper suffered from
years of bad management, and despite having
two huge hit toys in 1970 (Johnny Lightning and Dawn dolls) they had
to
throw in the towel. They were nearly forgotten by all but the most
die-hard collectors until Tom Lowe decided the time was right to revive
them. Ten years of rapid growth and unbridled success has proven him
correct.

To commemorate Ten Years
of Johnny Lightning, Playing Mantis founder and
president Tom Lowe chose his 20 favorite cars from 10 years of Johnny
Lightning production: two from each year.

The first 6 cars are available
now exclusively through hobby stores like
your favorite die-cast shop or on-line distributor. In addition, twelve
of these will be available in the die-cast aisle at your favorite store.
One car per month will be randomly inserted with the other Johnny
Lightning lines.

The remaining two will be
exclusive to Johnny Lightning Collector's Club
members. For details on how to join, go to http://www.playingmantis.com
.

Of particular interest to
collectors is the upcoming November release of
the Lincoln Futura-the car that was later customized into the Batmobile.

In addition to these releases,
collectors can celebrate Johnny
Lightning's tenth anniversary at LightningFest, the annual gathering
near
Playing Mantis' corporate headquarters.

From their publicity info:
"LightningFest continues to grow every
yearwith more collectors, more product, more events! It's become a
tradition for many, bringing their families for this once a year only
event! 2004 brings more additions and a couple of changes.

"LightningFest has outgrown
the Playing Mantis Headquarters! Due to the
increase in participation and limited size of the Playing Mantis
Headquarters, plus the addition of more events and to accommodate vendor
selling opportunities, LightningFest is being moved to an offsite
location. Bring your family, bring your friends, for a fun filled weekend
of die-cast and model kit collector buying and activities!

"LightningFest continues
to grow every yearwith more collectors, more
product, more events! It's become a tradition for many, bringing their
families for this once a year only event! 2004 brings more additions
and
a couple of changes.
LightningFest has outgrown the Playing Mantis Headquarters! Due to the
increase in participation and limited size of the Playing Mantis
Headquarters, plus the addition of more events and to accommodate vendor
selling opportunities, LightningFest is being moved to an offsite
location. Bring your family, bring your friends, for a fun filled weekend
of die-cast and model kit collector buying and activities!"

LightningFest will be held
September 18th and 19th, 2004, in South Bend
Indiana at Century Center, Hall A, located downtown. Check their
website for more details.

With the new owners, the
future of LightningFest is in doubt. This may
be the last gathering in Indiana, so you might want to make sure not
to
miss it.

Even with Tom Lowe maintaining
a seat on the board, some change at
Playing Mantis is inevitable. Johnny Lightning will be consolidated
with Racing Champions other die cast lines, and there may be some merging
of the various Playing Mantis divisions with divisions of RC2 (Polar
Lights model kits may merge with AMT, for instance), but with these
20
10th Anniversary cars we can salute Playing Mantis for ten wonderful
years of Johnny Lightning, and hope that they stick around for many
decades to come.